Aerobic water treatment systems are widely used in the place of sewer and septic systems. In many installations, the treated water is dispersed into a distribution field. A distribution field is sometimes called a spray field. The dispersed water may be sprayed onto the distribution field or the dispersed water may leach into the ground of the distribution field through underground piping. A spin-off benefit of an aerobic water treatment system is that the vegetation in the distribution system is irrigated. This provides significant economy through reduced water usage.
The inventor discovered a problem with using an aerobic system for irrigation in that the aerobic system will fail to meet irrigation needs due to variations in aerobic system use. This may occur in installations at weekend homes or even at homes where the homeowners leave for extended periods of time, such as to take a summer vacation. The situation is more acute in locations that have a highly variable amount of natural rainfall, where dry spells may parch vegetation if not artificially irrigated.
Another discovered problem is that aerobic ejection pumps will seize when not in use for extended periods. Since ejection pumps typically have a low-level shut off float, these pumps will not operate when waste water is not being fed into the aerobic treatment system. The inventor has recognized a need for cycling of the ejection pump on a scheduled basis. Another associated problem is that sludge does accumulate in aerobic system treated water pump tanks Running the ejection pumps in low water level conditions increases the chances for the ejection pump to pump sludge into the piping going to the distribution field. This causes opportunity for clogging of pipes and spray heads and pollutes the spray field.
One solution may be to supplement watering of the distribution field with a separate irrigation system. This is expensive as it results in two irrigation systems over the same lawn area. Further, the separate set of irrigation spray heads present the potential for cross contamination with the aerobic spray. Therefore, it is generally not allowed to directly mix both treated water and fresh water. Also, the amount of irrigation water from the aerobic treatment system is not coordinated with the amount of irrigation water from the separate irrigation system. Waste would occur unless sophisticated coordination is retrofitted into the controller for the aerobic treatment system. The question becomes how to supplement the irrigation water that is provided by the aerobic system in a coordinated manner.
Therefore, in certain environments and conditions, aerobic irrigation is practically useless because there is not a reliable supply of irrigation water to the distribution field. If separate supplemental irrigation is provided, it is very costly to have duplicate irrigation systems. Further, even with a duplicate irrigation system then cross contamination is possible and highly undesirable. Having two independent systems causes excessive water and unnecessary water usage by these two independent systems.
One solution would be to simply add water to the intake of the aerobic treatment system. This, however, is undesirable because this would greatly dilute the treatment tanks at a time when the amount of waste water entering the system is at a minimum. The microbial activity would be damaged. However, as mentioned previously, adding water post aerobic treatment is fraught with the problem of cross-contamination of the fresh water supply with the treated water from the aerobic treatment system.
Upon recognizing the problem, the inventor investigated and discovered several needs that must be met in order to meet the need for an ability to supplement with potable water the aerobic-treated irrigation water that is delivered to a spray field. The potable water supply must not be subject to contamination by the treated water from the aerobic system. It is highly desirable to solve the irrigation problem without modifying the aerobic system itself It is desirable and economically advantageous to avoid duplicating the irrigation system already provided by the aerobic system in the spray field. There is a need to avoid doubling water usage or causing excess water usage through uncoordinated watering. The aerobic system must not be allowed to leak gasses. There is a need to preserve or not interfere with the microbial activity in the aerobic treatment tanks There is a need to not cause the aerobic treatment system or the treated water to overflow. In supplementing the treated water from the aerobic system, back flow and back siphonage into the separate potable water supply must be prevented.
The inventor has conceived of topping off the treated water from the aerobic treatment system using a ready source of potable water. The challenge is to solve the problem of topping off while at the same time preventing backflow and siphoning of the aerobic water into the separate potable water source, yet also prevent gases from escaping, while also not requiring modification of the existing aerobic system. The inventor has discovered a pre-engineered solution that is generally robust in allowing retrofit installation on a wide variety of aerobic systems. In the process, several unanticipated benefits have been realized, including protection of the aerobic system ejection pump and avoidance of irrigation head clogging.
Therefore, the inventor has addressed two problems. The first is insuring that irrigation needs are met and second, that the aerobic system remains functional if left unused for long periods of time.